Brazilian slugger John Lineker (34-9) kept his ONE championship record perfect, scoring an emphatic first-round knockout of Troy Worthen (7-2) to move to 3-0 in the promotion.
The contest served as the headlining bout of ONE on TNT III, which took place at Singapore Indoor Stadium and aired in primetime Wednesday in the U.S on TNT.
Lineker was aggressive early, pushing forward and landing massive bodyshots with high pressure and reckless abandon. Once Worthen felt the power, Lineker added punches to the chin to his flurries, as well. To his credit, Worthen stood his ground and tried to return fire, but he wasn’t able to implement his wrestling while he was defending powerful strikes.
It was playing with fire, and it cost Worthen, who caught a straight right hand to the chin late in the frame. Another right hand landed clean while he was on the floor, ending the fight at the 4:35 mark of the opening round.
After the win, Lineker called out current ONE bantamweight champ Bibiano Fernandes.
“I know that I’m better than him,” Lineker said through an interpreter. “I’m the best, and I showed all the world that I will be the best in the world.”
John Lineker 🇧🇷 remains your top bantamweight contender with a THUNDEROUS KO of Troy Worthen! @johnlineker @tntdrama @BleacherReport @BR_MMA @brlive #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ONEonTNT3 pic.twitter.com/DDLzTD4oND
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) April 22, 2021
In an intriguing flyweight matchup, Yuya Wakamatsu (14-4) was able to outwork Reece McLaren (14-8) over the course of 15 minutes and was awarded with a unanimous decision victory for his efforts.
While McLaren flashed his grappling chops in the early stages of the fight, he was never able to really secure an earnest submission attempt. Solid takedowns and flashy sweeps were impressive for McLaren, but it didn’t match the power Wakamatsu showed on the feet with big strikes. Complicating matters for McLaren, he seemed to fade down the stretch, and Wakamatsu continued pressing forward, scoring a decision win in the process.
Wakamatsu now boasts a four-fight winning streak, built following a 2019 loss to Demetrious Johnson in the ONE debut of “Mighty Mouse.”
“Little Piranha” nearly knocked out his mouthpiece! 😬 @Yuya0209C4 @tntdrama @BleacherReport @BR_MMA @brlive #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ONEonTNT3 pic.twitter.com/HOKozeHvm8
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) April 22, 2021
On the card’s featured prelim, Rae Yoon Ok (14-3) got off to a hot start and then survived the late pushes from a gritty Marat Gafurov (18-4) to secure a hard-fought win via unanimous decision. With the result, Ok earned a booking against Eddie Alvarez (30-8) at next week’s ONE on TNT IV event.
ONE on TNT III results include:
MAIN CARD
- John Lineker def. Troy Worthen via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:35
- Yuya Wakamatsu def. Reece McLaren via unanimous decision
PRELIMINARY CARD